• On 10th February, I attended the funeral service for Mrs Anne Garrood, former Mayoress of the Borough, who sadly passed away on 31st January.   On behalf of the Council, I would like to place on record the Borough’s appreciation of all that she did in both her role as our Mayoress and her many other activities.
• The evening of 10th February at the Holiday Inn, Farnborough, we held a Mayor’s Dinner and Cabaret, attended by about 140 people as a fundraising event for my Mayor’s Charities.
• Yesterday, on behalf of the Borough, with many Members, I attended the Memorial to the seven people killed in the IRA bombing of the 16th Parachute Brigade HQ in Aldershot on 22nd February 1972. It was a very solemn occasion at which Prayers were by my Mayor’s Chaplain. Three wreaths were laid by me, Garrison Commander Colonel Tim Forster and Grainger Development Director John Beresford, who is now managing the site.
• Later yesterday, I had the honour of representing the Borough at the Service held at Princes Hall, Aldershot, as a Celebration for the Life of Lance Corporal Gajbahadur Gurung from the Royal Gurkha Rifles, serving with 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, who was killed in Afghanistan on Friday, 27 January 2012
• This Saturday, 25th February, there will be a show at Princes Hall – Musicals, Dance and Divas – to raise funds for my Mayor’s Charities and the Breast Cancer Unit, Frimley Park Hospital.
• On 9th March, at Princes Hall, there will be an At Home reception for local people who have made a significant contribution to our community during my Mayoral Year, followed by a Community Concert to raise funds for my Mayor’s Charities.
• Then, on 24th March, there will be a Barn Dance at Holy Trinity Church, Aldershot, to raise funds for my Mayor’s Charities.
• On 28th March, here in the Council Chamber, I will present cups to the winning schools in the competition to raise fund for my Mayor’s charities.
• On 6th May, there will be a Pre-Olympics Cycle Ride, organised by the Naya Yuva youth group and Rushmoor Cycling Forum with the support of the Council to raise funds for my Mayor’s Charities.

The Service was conducted by Buddhist religious teacher Guru Acharya Chewang Gurung, and was attended by 1000 people, many of whom were family members and serving Gurkha soldiers.

After the laying of wreaths at Princes Hall, the funeral cortege proceeded to Aldershot Crematorium, where the close family paid final tribute, before the wake/reception was held at the Junior Ranks Club in Aldershot.

The Ministry of Defence issued a news article, which contained tributes to L/Cpl Gurung:

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/LanceCorporalGajbahadurGurungKilledInAfghanistan.htm

There was also a report online by BFBS: http://www.bfbs.com/news/afghanistan/funeral-gurkha-soldier-takes-place-54633.html

It was a very solemn occasion at which Prayers were by my Mayor’s Chaplain, Reverend George Newton. Three wreaths were then laid by myself, Garrison Commander Colonel Tim Forster and Grainger Development Director John Beresford, who is now managing the site.

Also present were family members of those killed, a number of Council members and representatives of the Parachute Regiment and the Army Chaplaincy.

The wreath-laying ceremony concluded with the Bugler playing The Last Post, Two Minutes’ Silence and the Bugler playing Reveille.

A report made by BBC Online - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-17124016 - includes interviews.

I had the opportunity to tell listeners about my three charities for the year:

• Parkside (Aldershot & District Mencap)
• Nepalese Help
• Aldershot Town Centre Pastoral Team

I also publicised the charity show at Princes Hall, Aldershot, this Saturday. Musicals, Dance & Divas is being staged by Total Talent Productions presenting Mr Ken Dee & Company. It aims to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Unit at Frimley Park Hospital and my Mayor’s charities.

Entitled North South Dialogue IV – Implementing Tools of Change for Inclusion, it is organised by ADAPT (Able Disabled All People Together, formerly the Spastics Society of India), whose Founder-Chairperson. Dr. Mithu Alur, obtained her PhD at the Institute of Education, London, where Mrs. Evans was her Supervisor.

The conference has brought together delegates from 18 countries to the event that is expected to have a far-reaching impact on the lives of the disabled in many countries, including over 100 million disabled Indians, who have so far been excluded by governmental policy and society.

The Indian Government recently honoured Dr. Alur with the award of a Padma Shri for her seminal work in education, healthcare and employment of the disabled.

“This is special because it commemorates 40 years of our service to the nation,” said Dr. Alur. “During this time, we have managed to get the disabled out of their homes and given them the service that they required. Now, it is time to get them out of special schools and include them in society. It is time to think of the way forward, and about how we can serve the rural and tribal population as well.”

“Disability is universal, cutting across barriers of nationality, gender, and religion,” said Dr. Frances Moore, Honorary Advisor to the Women’s Council of the UK, who is co-chairing the Conference. “And inclusion is the bedrock of a truly developed society. To achieve that, we have to have both top-down legislation and bottom-up grassroots-level work. ADAPT has ably demonstrated how this can be done.”

The Conference is focusing on the difficulties that are leaving millions of Children with Disabilities (CwDs) out of school. It is being supported by the Bank of America (BOA) and the State Bank of India (SBI).

Dr. Mithu Alur (left), her daughter, Malini Chib (centre) and the Mayoress with me

I was very interested to hear from the speakers about the approach that the Church takes to inviting people to become involved and about their missionary work.

It was particularly delightful to hear that the congregation take great pride in the local community and constantly look for ways to assist others.

Bishop Lee Rushforth (Farnborough Congregation) (left), President Alistair Aitchison (right) and me

Working party at Farnborough Abbey, Summer 2011

He writes that the £1.5 million fund, over two years, will be used to address the immediate resource pressures on Rushmoor Borough Council.

Rushmoor Borough Council has set up a Cohesion Task and Finish Group to develop and to support the Council’s plans to address cohesion issues in the Borough. Membership of this group includes Councillors Peter Moyle, Keith Dibble, Alistair Mackie, David Thomas, John Marsh and Attika Choudhary.  The first meeting of the group has been arranged for Thursday, 8 March.

The proceeds of ticket sales for the show (£16, £15 concessions) are to be shared between Frimley Park Hospital Breast Care Unit and my Mayor of Rushmoor’s charities.

You can book by telephoning the Princes Hall Box Office – 01252 329155 or on-line at www.princeshall.com

Serenading the shoppers at Sainsbury's Superstore in Farnborough

No sooner had I arrived than Bill Wright offered me a nice warming glass of dry sherry. After all the guests had settled, there were party games – with extra marks if you could sing song titles as well as name them.

I enjoyed the challenge of guessing what was inside little cloth packages by feeling them – great fun for the blind and partially blind Club members, who enjoyed the challenge.

Then there were tea, sandwiches, scones and cakes, kindly provided and served up by the Inner Wheel Club of Farnborough.

I was then called upon to describe the cake provided by Sheldons Bakery, as follows:

As I have a degree in theoretical physics, I would say that, in terms of physics, it is a square.

It says on it in lovely pink icing ”Happy New Year to the Blind Club“.

It is also beautifully decorated with pink and white icing, and with some lovely little silver leaves, just like those  we have seen on the trees coated with frost this week.

Of course, from  the outside, it is impossible to describe what sort of cake it is inside – it could be a rich fruit cake or a sponge cake inside. For that, we will just have to wait until it is cut!

I may have the order of events mixed up, but, at one point, I drew the names of Club members, who were each provided with a suitable gift.

The New Year Party then concluded with a medley of 60s and 70s music by a visiting musician from Alton, and Club members joined in to sing along.

Click to view slideshow.

[Milan Tamu kindly took the photos and you can see more at: https://picasaweb.google.com/110247154301907030260/MayoralDinnerAndCabaret2012PhotosByMilanTamu#slideshow/5707978676287469906]

Headteacher of The Connaught School, Lindsey Abbott, proposed an inspirational Toast to the Borough of Rushmoor, to which I replied as follows:

Honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to respond to such an excellent Toast to the Borough of Rushmoor.

It is a great honour for me to serve as the Mayor of Rushmoor and to have the opportunity to be your host this evening.

When I was elected as Mayor, I wanted to make some difference in our community, where I could see that help was needed, so I chose three local Charities:

• Knowing of the great number of ex-Gurkhas and their wives who are choosing to live in Aldershot and Farnborough, Nepalese Help is assisting them to adapt to our community. Nepalese Help Co-Founder Kamal Purja was due to be among our guests this evening, but he is unfortunately not well enough.
• The Aldershot Town Centre Pastoral Team are doing what they can to help people, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights – even as I am speaking now. I was pleased that their Founder, Reverend George Newton, found time to say Grace earlier this evening.
• Parkside (Aldershot & District Mencap) has some 300 clients with learning disabilities to whom they provide services seven days a week. I am pleased that Parkside Chairman Ted Parker and Development Manager Karen Creeth are among our guests this evening.

The Mayoress and I sought to make a difference in the way that we went about fundraising, following a suggestion from our Chief Executive Andrew Lloyd. We set up a Fundraising Panel, many of whose members are here this evening, including Marilyn and Andrew Leah, June Smith, Tracy Marlow and Jose Harrap.

With their good efforts and those of two of the Council staff, Kathy Flatt and Mandy Speirs, we have organised a number of successful events – and we have more to come!

This evening, I am particularly fortunate to have as guests Terry Owen and his wife, Rak. I’ve always admired Terry’s devotion to Aldershot, particularly in founding Aldershot Town Football Club (1992) Limited, after its predecessor was wound up, so he has the title Club Founder. Terry kindly agreed to raise funds for my Mayor’s charities by organising the raffle and the auction here this evening.

It was with regret that I heard today that, despite having booked their places, the Leader of Rushmoor Borough Council, Councillor Peter Moyle and his wife, Jill, were unable to come. However, I am delighted that other Members of the Council are here with us this evening.

I am grateful that a number of Mayors and Chairmen from Hampshire and Surrey, together with officers of Rushmoor Borough Council, have come to support the event.

I am particularly pleased to see so many Nepalese from our community here this evening – including the British Gurkha Welfare Society, Myagdi Overseas Nepalese Association (UK) and Nepalese Help – as we are all working hard together to improve community cohesion.

I would especially thank Mark Ind, General Manager of the Holiday Inn, for helping us to stage this event – and for joining us this evening. He helped us tremendously with his advice, based on many years of organising his own charity events.

In advance, I would thank Ken Dee for giving his time freely to perform the cabaret.

And, finally, I would thank all of you for joining the Mayoress and me as our guests to make this a very enjoyable occasion and a real success in raising funds for my Mayor’s charities, so that we must now be close to our target for the year. Thank you.

After Ken Dee had performed his Cabaret, finishing off with a medley of Mama Mia songs, I was able to announce that from the Auction, the Raffle and the sale of the Floral table decorations raised a total of £1845 for my Mayor’s Charities – for which I gave everyone a big “Thank You!”.